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DATE: October 26, 2001 RELEASE NO.: 1001-01-16
CONTACT: Mike Hammond FOR RELEASE: Immediate

CAPT. PETER LASZCZ TO COMMAND NADEP North Island

In a traditional ceremony at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif., on Nov. 9, 2001, at 10 a.m., Capt. Peter Laszcz will relieve retiring Capt. Emory Chenoweth as commanding officer of the Naval Air Depot. Commander, Naval Air Systems Command, Vice Adm. Joseph Dyer, will be the guest speaker.
Capt. Laszcz, who reported aboard NADEP as executive officer in May, 2000, is a Euclid, Ohio, native who graduated from The Ohio State University in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering. He received his commission in 1976 through Aviation Officer Candidate School and was designated an Aerospace Maintenance Duty Officer.
NADEP is the largest aerospace employer in San Diego county, with a payroll of $188 million in FY 2000 and 3,200 civilian employees. The depot is the Navy’s Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence on the West Coast and provides engineering, logistics, calibration, manufacturing, overhaul and repair services for a variety of aircraft and the LM2500 ships turbine engine.
Before being assigned as XO at NADEP NI, Capt. Laszcz was the aerospace engineering duty officer community manager and head detailer.
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His first assignment was Attack Squadron 25, "The Fist of the Fleet", an A-7E Corsair II squadron at NAS, Lemoore, Calif. He served as aircraft division officer and maintenance/material control officer and deployed to the Western Pacific in 1979 aboard USS Ranger (CV- 61).
Reporting to NAS, Barbers Point, Hawaii, in 1980, Capt. Laszcz served as the maintenance/material control officer for the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department.
In 1983, he reported to Attack Squadron 83, "Rampagers", an A-7E squadron at NAS Cecil Field, Fla., and served as the assistant maintenance officer and maintenance officer. He deployed twice to the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean aboard USS Saratoga (CV- 60).
Capt. Laszcz assumed duties in 1986 as the metrology and calibration program manager for the Naval Air Systems Command in Washington, D.C.
Joining the USS Midway (CV - 41) in 1989, he served in the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department as the assistant maintenance officer and maintenance/material control officer. He deployed twice to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean and participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
Returning to Washington, D.C., in 1993, he was assigned to the Chief of Naval Operations’ staff as the head of the Naval Aviation Maintenance Policy and Analysis Unit.
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Capt. Laszcz reported to the Naval Aviation Depot Operations Center as the executive officer in 1996. After NADOC was disestablished he served in Naval Air Systems Command as the deputy director for industrial technology until he returned to the CNO’s staff as the deputy director for aviation maintenance programs.
Capt. Laszcz earned a master’s degree in systems management from the University of Southern California and completed the Program Managers Course at the Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Va.
His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal with one gold star, the Navy Commendation Medal with two gold stars, the Navy Achievement Medal and numerous other unit citations and campaign medals.
Capt. Chenoweth, a Baltimore, Md., native, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with the class of 1976, and received his “Wings of Gold” in 1978 after flight training in Pensacola, Fla. He received a master of science degree in physics from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif., in 1984.
Flying the SH-3H helicopter, Capt. Chenoweth’s first operational assignment was with Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 6 aboard USS Constellation (CV-64) during two Western Pacific/Indian Ocean deployments. After graduating from NPS, he returned to sea duty as the staff anti-submarine warfare operations officer for Carrier Air Wing 9 aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) during a third WestPac/Indian Ocean deployment.
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In 1987, Capt. Chenoweth was designated an Aeronautical Engineering Duty Officer and served at NADEP North Island (then known as the Naval Air Rework Facility) before moving to the Naval Academy as an instructor in 1990. Selected for test pilot training, he graduated from the rotary wing curriculum of Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Md., receiving the U.S. Navy League’s Commander Sid Sherby Award for class leadership. Before becoming NADEP North Island’s executive officer in Oct., 1998, Capt. Chenoweth was the deputy director of industrial operations for the Naval Air Systems Command.
Capt. Chenoweth’s decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, and unit and service awards.
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